NSC signs on as first OSHA Alliance Program Ambassador

Washington — The National Safety Council is the first organization to become an ambassador of OSHA’s Alliance Program.

NSC President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin and Loren Sweatt, acting OSHA administrator, took part in a signing ceremony Nov. 18.

The agency created the program in 2002 “to develop voluntary, collaborative working relationships with organizations that are committed to workplace safety and health.” As of fiscal year 2018, OSHA had 245 national, regional and area office alliances.

Ambassadors serve as an extension of the alliance program, an OSHA spokesperson told Safety+Health, and the designation “marks a progression in the collaborative or cooperative relationship.”

As a member of the program since 2003, NSC agrees to share “information, guidance and access to training resources that address occupational hazards, and promote understanding of the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”

As part of the agreement, OSHA will continue to:

• Provide routine communications on enforcement, regulatory and outreach initiatives.
• Offer opportunities to speak at OSHA Alliance Program and agency stakeholder meetings or events, such as outreach and training activities through the national, regional or area office, and the National Alliance Program Construction Roundtable and Forum.
• Engage in information sharing and technical discussions.
• Maintain the council’s status as an Alliance Program Ambassador.

For its part, NSC will continue to:

• Share information with members and stakeholders on OSHA’s national initiatives and encourage their participation in OSHA’s outreach initiatives and rulemaking processes.
• Share information with members and stakeholders on occupational safety and health laws and standards, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers.
• Encourage its chapters to build relationships with OSHA’s national, regional and area offices.
• Share information with OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding the council’s good practices or effective approaches through training programs, workshops, seminars and lectures.
• Offer opportunities to speak, exhibit or appear at NSC and OSHA conferences, local meetings or other events.

“For more than 45 years, NSC has maintained a strong partnership with OSHA,” Martin said in the release. “With a shared mission to protect workers, we can make the greatest impact in reducing workplace injuries and deaths. These combined efforts will help our nation’s workers live their fullest lives.”